Ex-UTA Executive and Partners Launch Distinkt, AI-Powered Talent Agency

Distinkt, an AI-powered talent agency with nearly 2,000 clients in 43 countries, has launched out of Los Angeles and London, aiming to represent the vast population of working creatives who have no agent.

The firm connects actors, directors, producers, editors, photographers and digital creatives with opportunities in key markets. Its founders are Robert Herman, Chris Gibbin and former UTA communications head Chris Day, who serves as chief spokesperson. Together they bring decades of experience across representation, film and commercial production, and advertising. Although the founders did not disclose details at launch, Distinkt has been booking clients on ad spots, scripted series and films since May.

CEO Robert Herman frames the venture as a response to a structural gap. "We believe professional representation should be accessible to anyone with talent," Herman said. "We built Distinkt so that a significant part of the coordination and administration of agency work is managed by technology. That frees our agents to focus on judgment, evaluation and negotiation, and it means we can offer effective representation to far more of the world's working creative talent."

How does the model work?

Every Distinkt client receives four "AI teammates" on a proprietary platform. The teammates analyze work opportunities. A panel of AI "specialists" in areas such as legal compliance and contract analysis is trained on guild standards across the U.S., U.K., EU, EMEA, LATAM and Asia-Pacific markets. Human agents make all final decisions and broker all deals.

The service is free of charge for talent clients, who can browse opportunities and receive media and career analysis while agents pursue work on their behalf. Distinkt does not require exclusive representation, leaving clients free to sign with other firms.

Herman draws a clear line on the role of the technology. "We're using technology to give agents superpowers, not to replace them," he said. "Finding an opportunity is only the beginning. A great agent team has to understand what that opportunity is worth, know where there is room to push and fight for the best possible deal. We've built technology to help our agency do all of those things better."

What does this change for unrepresented talent?

The agency estimates that more than two million actors worldwide lack representation and that more than 50 million creators earn some income. Distinkt's internal thinking targets the untapped pools that legacy agencies leave behind, including the roughly 70% of SAG-AFTRA members the firm estimates do not have agents.

Co-founder Chris Gibbin acknowledged the incumbents while arguing the economics leave most talent behind. "The traditional representation model has served the industry incredibly well and continues to serve many artists at the highest levels of their careers," Gibbin said. "But the economics of that model inevitably mean that a huge amount of talent around the world remains unrepresented or underrepresented. Distinkt is designed to reach more of those people and give them a genuine advocate and a pathway into the creative economy."

The launch arrives as Hollywood's legacy agencies race to unlock creator-economy earnings and talent faces an unprecedented work slump amid production flight from Los Angeles. According to a 2026 Grand View Research study cited by the agency, the global creator economy, valued at $310 billion in 2026, is estimated to reach $1.3 trillion by 2033.

Distinkt is privately held today. The firm says it will likely seek investment in the coming months as its client base grows.